Drums rotating within a housing and having indicia such as numerals on the circumferential surfaces thereof, visible through a window have long been mounted on horizontal axes and used in games of skill and chance. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 756,514 to Maxwell of Apr. 5, 1904, three such drums are disclosed as is push control mechanism for locking one drum against rotation while the others continue to be rotatable by means of projecting pins on the drums.
Magnets have been used to slow the rotation of drums in U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,458 to Raymond of 1956. Weights falling into sockets are used for a similar purpose in U.S. Pat. No. 2,121,494 to Babcock of 1938. Pauls engaging in the teeth of ratchet gears are proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,152,599 to Mills of 1939.
However none of the above expedients have been found to be satisfactory for halting simultaneously the very sensitive and accurate rotation of heavy drums, rotatable in horizontal planes in opposite directions on a vertical axis within a heavy housing suitable for tamper-proof games of skill and chance.